Due
to the overwhelming amount of cult movies that come out on DVD on a regular basis,
we are now doing "capsule" reviews of various releases in addition to
the regular reviews. These less lengthy looks at DVDs will be posted here regularly,
so keep checking back for new reviews!

*

SEX
ON 42ND STREET After Hours Retro, Directors: Shaun Costello & Leonard
Kirtman. Carrying on their Storefront Feature Series, After Hours Retro
releases yet another 2-disc set collecting together forgotten 16mm cheapies.
The problem with these releases is that so few of the films are actually interesting
or even historically valuable. Of the many Storefront Feature sets available,
the best two are DIARY OF A NYMPH (containing the titular film, Anthony Spinelli’s
first adult feature, and DIARY OF A SCHIZO, a wonderful Rene Bond vehicle
co-starring Keith Erickson and Nina Fause) and GRINDHOUSE HOSTAGE (containing
PLAY ONLY WITH ME, one of few films made by the unique Dianne Galke, star
of HARDGORE who is unfortunately not identified anywhere on the package, and
arty European import THE BLUE BALLOON). On this most recent 2-discer, a troika
of New York-lensed quickies are presented for a presumably easy-to-please
audience. The “best”, if that’s possible, is PEN PALS, a
Shaun Costello weekend wonder focusing on a group of friends connected through
their letters who finally meet in the Big Apple for a sex-filled weekend.
The cast includes popular New York pornsters Levi Richards (THE PRIVATE AFTERNOONS
OF PAMELA MANN), Mary Stuart (THE PASSIONS OF CAROL), Davey Jones (THE COLLEGIATES),
Ashley Moore (NEON NIGHTS), and Marc Anthony (DOMINATRIX WITHOUT MERCY, and
not mentioned in the historical liner notes). The liner notes and packaging
try to compare Costello to Paul Morrissey and proclaim him the “most
significant” New York filmmaker, which is outrageous and quite short-sighted.
While some of Costello’s 60-minute grinders are interesting because
of their frequent use of double penetrations, sleazy aesthetic, and one-shot
female cast members, he only began making great classics when he started working
with bigger budgets. To call his cheaply-made, barely-written Mob-funded quickies
anything more than that is stretching. Costello appears in PEN PALS as a man
who gives one of the pen pals directions, and in a ridiculous breaking-the-fourth-wall
moment, a leather-bound biker who bursts in on the fun to cap off the film
nonsensically. There’s great footage of New York circa 1974, but little
else worth mentioning. CERTIFIED MAIL is a tacky flick from the Leon Gucci/Leonard
Kirtman studios. Kirtman was one of the most loathed pornographers in New
York, and he never made a good film. This plotless trash follows a mail lady
as she traipses around the city, sleeping with a variety of people she delivers
mail to. ‘Nuff said. The cast includes Linda L’Amour (credited
in the liners as Lynn Stevens, her pseudonym in Joe Sarno’s TOUCH OF
GENIE), Marc Stevens (BIG THING), the middle-aged sex deviant Ultramax (THROUGH
THE LOOKING GLASS) before she made a comeback in the 80s in better films as
Linda Vale, and actress/casting agent Sandy Foxx, in an unflattering wig,
as the mail lady. A rapist in a back alley is played by a guy with tattoos
all over his body, who became popular for a while in loops and weekend wonders,
as well as a memorable appearance in S.O.S. SCREW ON SCREEN. The final film,
LOVE-IN MAID, is the worst, with a loose plotline following wacky Bobby Astyr
and his roommate hiring beautiful unsung starlet Cindy West to be their maid
and boffing wigged Mary Stuart as a census taker. For some reason the “plot”
takes a detour to follow West picking up ice cream vendor Turk Turpin (uncredited
in the historical liner notes) for some fun, and an orgy caps off the boredom.
An actual film camera shows up to photograph the various sex acts going on.
Snooze. Worth seeing as one of Turk Turpin’s rare hardcore performances
(he’s best known as the dastardly head orderly in Armand Weston’s
DEFIANCE), but otherwise completely disposable. The gynecological photography
will make you nauseous. All three films are presented at the 16x9 aspect ratio
of 1.78:1, which is unfortunately inaccurate considering these films were
shot on 16mm in the Academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Unfortunately, the films
have music (usually stolen rock tunes of the period) replaced by contemporary
tunes, which results in dialogue being eliminated as well. If the majors (VCX,
Video-X-Pix, Caballero) can release better-known features on DVD with stolen
music, then that shouldn’t be an obstacle here, but I guess it’s
understandable to skirt any possible legal issues. Thankfully you can pick
up unaltered versions of all three films (albeit with the SWV watermark) from
Something Weird Video on DVD-R. One final note: all three films are barely
60 minutes, and could easily fit on one disc instead of two. It might be a
better idea for After Hours Retro to start issuing single-disc collections
for a lesser price point. Their intent with this series is good, attempting
to preserve forgotten films of the early days of hardcore, but between the
widescreen presentation, the infrequent AHC logo, the replaced music and new
copyright/title cards, and the low quality of the majority of the films, it
sadly feels more like scraping the bottom of the barrel than historical preservation.
Skip this one and pick up DIARY OF A NYMPH and GRINDHOUSE HOSTAGE; all three
films on both sets are well worth having! (Casey
Scott)

*

RED
NIGHTS OF THE GESTAPO (1977) Media Blasters/Exploitation Digital, Director:
Fabio De Agostini. Media Blaster’s Exploitation Digital label continues
its line of Italian-lensed Nazi trash with RED NIGHTS OF THE GESTAPO, which
is more akin to the decadent pseudo artiness of SALON KITTY than the all-out
sleaze of say, SS HELL CAMP. During Hitler’s final WWII days, the Gestapo
discovers that a number of influential members of German Intelligence are
secretly against the Fuhrer. A German officer is captured and brought before
a firing squad, but this is all a charade and he is really asked to spearhead
an assignment to congregate the so-called traders. All the information is
gathered on these individuals and it becomes known what their various sexual
fixations are. Attractive women who have the right credentials are employed
(or rather, forced to participate), and the disloyal men are gathered together
one night in a castle for a sort of chaotic mass orgy. What follows is the
usual sex and violence, though more restrained than usual for this sort of
thing, but the sets and production values are well above average. Still, you
get to see a fetishistic scene of a man sucking milk from a woman’s
lactating nipple or half-naked gal being forced into a trunk and then tossed
out a window, and plenty of fornication! All this while blonde actors like
SS cinema staple Giorgio Cerioni (who I still insist is a dead ringer for
Ron Ely!) try to look as Arian as possible. Cerioni cuts a fart on a passed
out comrade after raving about how Hitler made a mess of things. Director
Fabio De Agostini also did the screenplay for NIGHTMARE CASTLE. Exploitation
Digital’s transfer is one of their best yet, presenting the film uncut
and in its original 2.35:1 ratio with anamorphic enhancement. The transfer
looks excellent, and the English mono track is solid as well. Extras include
a still gallery, a newly created trailer (showcasing the more sensational
moments), and trailers for other Exploitation Digital titles. (George
R. Reis)

*

DEVIL’S
ISLAND LOVERS (1974) Image Entertainment, Director: Jess Franco.
Cult director Jess Franco has films of all time, including 99 WOMEN, BARBED
WIRE DOLLS, ILSA: THE WICKED WARDEN and SADOMANIA. A similar-themed title
that not too many people have seen is DEVIL’S ISLAND LOVERS, yet it’s
not typical sexploitation, but rather a serious melodrama with a tragic romance
plot, and not typical of what Franco was doing during the period. The plot
has two young lovers, Beatriz Coblan (Geneviève Robert) and Raymond
Franval (Andrés Resino, the hero of Leon Klimovsky’s WEREWOLF
SHADOW), being framed for murder by Colonel Mendoza (Jean Guedes) who is jealous
of their relationship. Both are sent to two different prisons on “Devil’s
Island” and are subjected to various aggravation, all of it pretty tame
compared to Franco’s other WIP flicks. A very sickly-looking Dennis
Price (in what might be his last film – he died the year before it was
released) plays Lindsay, a lawyer who believes them innocent and is trying
to do everything in his power to prove it. Howard Vernon has a small role
as Colonel Ford, the no-nonsense ruler of the men’s prison. Josyane
Gibert (the cabaret singer in DRACULA, PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN) is a concerned
prison snitch that risk her life and murders to help the doomed lovers. Franco
regulars Anne Libert and Britt Nichols are prisoners, Luis Barboo is a guard,
and composer Daniel White plays a judge. No nudity and low on violence, this
is basically a straight drama with a decent story and tight pacing (at least
for Franco). Never available on home video in the U.S., Image presents the
film in a nice 2.35:1 widescreen transfer with anamorphic enhancement. Never
dubbed into English, a mono Spanish track is included with optional English
subtitles. (George
R. Reis)

*

BAD
INCLINATION (2003) Director: Pierfrancesco Campanella, Shriek Show/Media
Blasters. Ugh. For those who thought FATAL FRAMES was the bottom of the
barrel of contemporary gialli, look no further than BAD INCLINATION, a terrible
mix of lesbians, gory murders and police detective work. A mysterious apartment
building in Italy is plagued by a series of slasher murders using a metal
setsquare as a weapon. The suspects include a devious blackmailing artist
(Florinda Bolkan), a lesbian has-been pop singer (Eva Robbins), her bisexual
backstabbing agent/lover, and the gossiping superintendent. Oh boy does this
stink. The film has its moments, I'll give it that. The lush strings-driven
score recalls Pino Donaggio and Fabio Frizzi and tries to keep things interesting
even when they aren't. Florinda Bolkan (A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN) hasn't
had a major role in Eurosploitation for years, so her bitchy red herring performance
is quite good and she has aged pretty well. Franco Nero (DJANGO) is welcome
in any film, even if it's only for less than 30 seconds as it is here as a
rambling homeless man (!). And infamous transsexual Eva Robbins (TENEBRE)
looks great in her brief nude scenes and digs her teeth into the villainous
lesbian suspect role. But the negative outweighs the positive. The storyline
is all over the place and very hard to follow, the gory murders don't happen
often enough and aren't nearly as moist as gialli from 30 years earlier and
any lesbian sex scenes which may attract sleaze mavens don't last very long
and resemble a Lifetime TV movie. There is some boobjob nudity to appease
those looking for it. The real shot in the foot is the atrocious English dubtrack,
which is unfortunately the only language option on the disc! It is apparent
that the film was shot in Italian, and with Media Blasters' dual-language
options on the past couple of discs, it's disheartening that the film's original
mix wasn't included, especially since this is a recent film! Perhaps a licensing
disagreement barred the inclusion of the Italian track...? At least in the
70s the dubbing sounded professional, here it sounds like there are only three
women dubbing every female character in the flick (all are familiar voices
from way back in the 70s and 80s, too)!! Some funny dubbed dialogue appears
(for example, when Florinda finds a girl robbing her van: "Hey! Wait
a minute! You're stealing! Stop it!!"). Best unintentionally hilarious
moment: Florinda Bolkan tells off her former student with some vicious dialogue
from inside her van, then drives forward a few feet to stop and put on her
turn signal before entering traffic!! It's funnier visually than reading about
it, trust me, it's one of the best "bad grand exits" ever! If you
can get BAD INCLINATION cheap, it's a seriously flawed attempt at revitalizing
the giallo that has some moments which Eurocult fans should enjoy. However,
it's not as Brilliantly awful as FATAL FRAMES, which I would recommend over
this tripe. The Letterboxed transfer looks OK, with some bad colors due to
this being shot on video instead of film. Extras include interviews with the
director and two of the actresses (Elisabetta Rocchetti, who played Bolkan's
blackmail victim, and Elisabetta Cavallotti, who played the bisexual agent),
a making-of featurette with more interviews (including Bolkan and Robbins),
and a trailer, all of which are in Italian with English subtitles. Why not
the feature film then?! (Casey Scott)

*

TINTORERA:
TIGER SHARK (1978) Director: Rene Cardona, Jr., Desert Island Media.
The release of JAWS in 1975 saw a slew of cash-in films featuring more killer
sharks, killer whales, killer alligators and crocodiles and killer piranha
(!). Of these, the Mexican/British co-production of TINTORERA is probably
the worst. Rene Cardona seems better-suited to direct his standard "ripped
from the headlines" flicks like SURVIVE, CYCLONE and GUYANA: CRIME OF
THE CENTURY. Hugo Stiglitz suffers a mild nervous and physical breakdown,
so is whisked away to an island resort where he lives on a yacht off-shore
to get his strength back. Also frequenting the resort is male whore Andres
Garcia, who spends his days scoping out lucrative female conquests and his
nights following up on their bedside offers. Both men share a number of women,
who begin to disappear thanks to a vicious man-eating tiger shark. Folks,
this isn't a shark movie, it's a resort sex drama with maybe 20-25 minutes
of shark footage inserted. The problem with that is that TINTORERA runs a
whopping 126 minutes (!). So if sitting through what seems like hours of beachside
seductions and relationship woes with a shark thrown in for fun sounds like
a good time, dive into this atrocity. There is a good helping of nudity, though,
and Cardona also seems to be an equal opportunity exploiteer, with both male
and female nudity popping up. Fiona Lewis (DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN), Priscilla
Barnes ("Three's Company") and Susan George (STRAW DOGS, FRIGHT,
VENOM) are the three name stars in the lives of Stiglitz and Garcia and all
three pop their tops and even reveal backside. The sight of Stiglitz in very
clingy speedos and micro-shorts is pretty horrifying, but on the flip side,
viewers do get to see muscular stud Garcia flash some skin, too. The disc
suffers from a language/subtitles problem: the film is presented in English
with deleted dialogue scenes in Spanish. English subtitles are provided for
the Spanish scenes, and Spanish subs for the English, but the problem is that
both subtitle options are on the same track. Meaning that if you want subs
for the Spanish, you have to sit through subs for the English, too. And to
make matters worse, many dialogue scenes jumps back and forth from Spanish
with subs to English with subs, making the film that much more of a chore
to sit through. The movie looks good, with solid colors and brief moments
of grain and debris, but who cares? It's a stinker to avoid at all costs!(Casey
Scott)

*

CHILD
BRIDE (1938) Director: Harry Revier, Alpha.
This surprisingly good little roadshow picture is a surefire winner which
Something Weird should release in a good-looking special edition soon! In
the Ozark Mountains, young Jennie and her boyfriend Freddie go skinnydipping
and get booklearnin' in a little schoolhouse. But when Jennie's father is
killed by his shady business partner, who tries to blame her mother for the
crime, she is forced to marry the slimy degenerate! Will her pretty schoolteacher,
who is crusading for a child marriage law, be able to save her? The plot is
barely there, but the camerawork is really good for the low, low budget and
it's never boring. The 62-minute running time just flies by! Over 60 years
later, CHILD BRIDE's nude swimming sequence starring adolescent Shirley Mills
will still raise eyebrows. The subplot of the sophisticated teacher being
abducted by hooded goons planning to tar and feather her features cinematography
very similiar to that of Revier's earlier LASH OF THE PENITENTES (1936). When
will that one hit DVD?! Most of the acting is pretty amateurish, but Shirley
Mills does a good job as the jailbait child bride and would leap off of this
film into a mildly successful career in supporting parts in Hollywood productions.
She actually looks like a 30s version of Rene Bond in some shots! Also appearing
in a pretty large role is Angela Rossitto as a worker at Jennie's father's
still, who saves the teacher from her cruel fate. Alpha's disc looks very
good for the budget price, with the dark night scenes still pretty clear and
easy to see. Also streeting the same day as this are several more roadshow
rarities, including GAMBLING WITH SOULS and DAMAGED LIVES, all of which should
be picked up pronto by fans of exploitation cinema. Also included are previews
for the contemporary MAGDALEN (which looks pretty good), JUST ADD PEPPER (doesn't
look bad, either), THE IRONBOUND VAMPIRE (ugh!) and other recent films which
probably won't provide any interest.(Casey
Scott)

*

HIGH
SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL!(1958) Director: Jack Arnold, Lion's Gate.
Producer Albert Zugsmith hit paydirt with this all-star juvenile delinquent box
office smash, in 2.35:1 widescreen no less! Russ Tamblyn is Tony Baker, the new
kid in a lavish California high school (which also doubled for the reform school
in Zugsmith's GIRLS TOWN) who is in actuality an undercover cop looking to discover
who is behind the secret drug dealings that frequent the hallways. Mamie Van Doren,
in her image-making role, is "Auntie," Tamblyn's sultry girlfriend who
must pose as his aunt during the sting. Gangster Jackie Coogan (directly after
MESA OF LOST WOMEN and before "The Addams Family") is the mastermind
behind the high school drug ring, John Drew Barrymore (Drew's proud papa) is the
lead j.d., Ray Anthony (Mamie's real-life husband) is Coogan's right-hand man,
Jerry Lee Lewis croons the title tune and several other unknown rockers, Lyle
Talbot is Tamblyn's superior, and future "Little House" star Michael
Landon is in there somewhere, too. Norman "Boom Boom" Grabowski shows
up as part of the drug dealer's gang, too! Unfortunately, with all this cool star
power, HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL! never gets off the ground and takes itself far
too seriously as a drug expose drama to be much exploitation fun. Zugsmith's later
film, GIRLS TOWN, packs even more amazing cast members and is non-stop excitement.
Lion's Gate's transfer, which opens with the MGM logo (!), is unfortunately the
same soft transfer which appeared on VHS and LD, meaning no extra restoration.
Thankfully, despite the fullscreen advertisements on the cover art, it is preserved
in its original scope aspect ratio. No extras are included. (Casey
Scott)

*

SUGAR
COOKIES(1973) Director:
Theodore Gershuny, Troma. Early 70s sex thrillers are always more interesting
than the cookie-cutter straight-to-video "unrated" ones we see today,
and the underground psychosexual masterpiece SUGAR COOKIES is no exception.
The fact that it stars Mary Woronov and Lynn Lowry (both criminally underrated
actresses) makes it an extra treat for "cult" film audiences. Lynn
Lowry is Alta, a well-known adult film actress who is murdered in a sexual
game by her director Max. Mary Woronov is her agent, Camilla, who promises
Max he will find him a replacement. Enter Julie (played again by the doe-eyed
Lowry), a naive young theater actress who is taken in by Camilla and subsequently
becomes a lesbian through a series of well-done seduction scenes set to the
rumored lesbian theme "Sally Go Round the Roses" by The Jaynetts
(excellent song, by the way). I can't discuss the specifics of the plot any
further without spoilers, but it all goes awry in the final 20 minutes and
becomes a particularly memorable underground film. With Belgian beauty Monique
van Vooren (FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN) as Max's bitter ex-wife, porno queen Jennifer
Welles as Max's secretary who enjoys being slapped around, and Warhol Factory
regular Ondine as Roderick, the adult film talent scout. One of the best underground
films of the Warhol/Morrissey 'genre,' COOKIES cannot safely be categorized
with the 'nudie cuties' or the early DEEP THROAT pornographic films. It falls
somewhere in-between, but substitutes intelligence and style for bubbly nudity
or graphic penetration. The film is ultimately memorable for the intense performances
of Woronov and Lowry. Woronov has continued to work in always interesting
roles (sometimes in some really dismal films), while Lowry has only recently
resurfaced to enjoy her well-deserved cult status. The chemistry generated
between the two isn't forced or shallow, and as the film follows their relationship,
it steps beyond the boundaries of exploitation and throws the audience for
a curveball by the startling conclusion. After a lengthy stay on VHS, Troma
has finally unleashed this superb 70s artifact on DVD in a "Special Edition."
In addition to a very good-looking fullframe transfer, President Lloyd Kaufman
has included camcorder interviews with stars Lynn Lowry and Mary Woronov,
both of whom seem pretty uncomfortable sitting on a couch surrounded by Lloyd,
Sgt. Kabukiman, and various Tromettes. Lowry discusses how she overcame the
overwhelming nudity and her memories of working on this low-budget NYC flick.
Woronov seems especially edgy while Kaufman accuses her of being a lesbian,
cracks jokes about her Warhol days, but she does manage to tell some great
tales of how her then-husband Theodore Gershundy (the director) conceived
the film and how refreshing it is to know the film has a following so many
years after it was considered "lost." You also get to enjoy the
misleading theatrical trailer, created years after the film was made (the
early 80s, actually). (Casey Scott)

*

BORN
INNOCENT(1974) Director: Donald Wrye, VCI. The immediate follow-up
to Linda Blair's breakthrough performance in THE EXORCIST (for which she won a
Golden Globe) was this highly controversial TV movie, one of a handful of telefilms
that would in later years become cult classics for their campy look at problem
teenagers. Adorable Ms. Blair plays a troubled youth who runs away from her abusive
household only to wind up caught and thrown into a girls' detention center. After
being forced to strip and shower in front of a guard, she is tossed into the lions'
den, surrounded by drug addicts, teen prostitutes, and psychotic lesbians! The
young teen cast includes personal favorite Janit Baldwin (the possessed daughter
in RUBY, a groupie in PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE, and Claudia Jennings' mute sister
in GATOR BAIT, Ms. Baldwin was a simply superb addition to any film) and Nora
Heflin (THE STUDENT TEACHERS). The shock value of this "expose" has
gone down considerably in the 30 years since it was aired, but the camp value
has sky-rocketed! Full of dynamite dialogue ("What do you care about?; Getting
high!!"), sadistic juvenile delinquency, and plenty of soap suds to keep
any teenage girl entranced, BORN INNOCENT is an easily recommended 70s exploitation
film, ABC-style! VCI's disc looks better than any previous video incarnations,
with bold colors and a slight sheet of grain to show the film's age. Though the
infamous broomstick rape scene was cut for broadcast, it has always been seen
uncensored on home video and the DVD is no exception. Extras are limited to previews
for other VCI releases; it's a shame that Linda Blair couldn't be included at
least in a video interview, because she has never been apprehensive about discussing
this film. For the dirt cheap price, this is a great bargain for campy TV movie
fans and women-in-prison aficionados alike. (Casey Scott)

*

WEREWOLF
OF WASHINGTON (1973) Director: Milton Moses Ginsberg, Alpha Video.
A low budget political/horror satire that benefits from a good cast. Reporter
Jack Whittier (Dean Stockwell) had an affair with the president's daughter, so
he's accepting an assignment in Budapest. It's there that he runs into some gypsies,
is bitten by a wolf, and left with a pentagram symbol on his chest. He returns
to Washington as the President's (Biff McGuire) press aide, but turns into a grey-haired
werewolf (the make-up is not half bad) when the moon is full. One of the best
scenes has the werewolf trying to get at a cute hippy chick in a knocked-down
telephone booth. Stockwell's performance is both comical and physical, and he's
fun to watch. Some laughs are to be had with this Watergate era ("let me
make one thing perfectly clear") horror comedy whose ending likely inspired
the one in Joe Dante's THE HOWLING. Clifton James (Sheriff J.W. Pepper in the
first two Roger Moore Bond films) is great as the racist attorney general who
tries to cover up all the murders, and the late great Michael Dunn (as "Dr.
Kiss") has an enjoyable but meaningless bit as a scientist sympathetic to
the werewolf. Also look for the late Thayer David ("Dark Shadows") as
a foreign official. This film was shot mostly in Glen Cove in Long Island, NY
(substituting for Washington DC and the White House), and I've actually been on
some of the locations seen onscreen. Alpha's full frame release of this 1973 title
uses an inky old video transfer, but watchable and worth the few bucks if you
enjoy these sort of flicks. The original posters and ads showed the werewolf wearing
an Uncle Sam hat! (George
R. Reis)

*

THE
BLANCHEVILLE MONSTER(1963) Director: Alberto De Martino, Alpha
Video. Here's an Italian-made horror film released directly to television
in the U.S. by AIP-TV and known as both THE BLANCHEVILLE MONSTER and HORROR (both
titles appear on the opening credits of this DVD release). Loosely based on Edgar
Allan Poe, the plot concerns a young woman who returns to her ancestral home just
before her 21st birthday. She believes that her father is dead, and her brother
is convinced that a curse lingers over the family. This all leads to a disfigured
hooded stranger roaming around a castle, several nightmare sequences, and a female
victim being buried alive. The film drags at times and leans more towards mystery
than horror, but it's an atmospheric late-night type chiller that fans of 60s
Italian goth will not want to do without. The eerie music is by Carlo Franci,
who also scored a lot of gladiator movies. Director Alberto De Martino also did
THE ANTICHRIST (aka THE TEMPTER) (1974) and it was co-written by exploitation
legend Bruno Corbucci. Starring genre regulars Gérard Tichy and Helga Liné
(who is featured prominently on the DVD's cover art). Alpha's release of the English-dubbed
version is cropped from its original widescreen photography, but still looks decent
and fairly sharp in its presentation of this foreign black and white title. With
the low retail price and great cover art, it's easily recommended. (George
R. Reis)

*

NIGHT
FRIGHT (1967), Director: James A. Sullivan, Alpha Video. The story
dictates that test animals aboard a spaceship are exposed to radiation and become
mutated. One of them becomes a tall, furry ape-like creature with a bald head
that escapes from a base and runs amok in the woods. John Agar (looking much older,
but not really long after his 1950s matinee glory) is a tough sheriff who knows
how to capture the thing, but also has to contend with some annoying rock n' roll
teens with bouffant hairdos. Aside from being annoyingly slow and cheap, you've
seen worse. The monster is not that bad (well, it's mostly too dark to get a good
look at him) and Agar at least has a sufficient role. To give you an idea of what
to expect, this 50s-style creature-feature flick was shot in Texas by actors and
crew associated with Larry Buchanan, namely on ZONTAR THE THING FROM VENUS! The
film also stars Bill Thurman (IT'S ALIVE) as a deputy murdered off screen.
I'm not 100 percent sure, but I believe this was released straight to television.
Alpha's decent-looking budget DVD (some grain, some muted colors, and some very
dark scenes) is the full 75-minute version, despite the attractive packaging claiming
it's only 66 minutes.

*

VIRGIN
REPORT (1972) Director: Jess Franco, Image Entertainment. Attempting
to cash in on the SCHOOLGIRL REPORT film craze in Germany during the early 1970s,
Eurocult auteur extraordinaire Jess Franco lensed this incredibly cheap fake Mondo-esque
report film discussing virginity and its importance or lack thereof throughout
the world. Franco regulars Howard Vernon (AWFUL DR. ORLOF himself), Christina
von Blanc (the VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD), Britt Nichols (the DAUGHTER OF DRACULA),
and Ingrid Steinbach and Eva Garden, two familiar faces from the "report
film" subgenre, re-enact historical events, international customs, and the
modern dating habits surrounding the unattainable virgin. Clocking in at a very
drawn-out 67 minutes (I am still unsure if this is the uncut version, the German
version is reportedly 82 minutes), VIRGIN REPORT will only be of interest to completists
of Franco and Ms. Nichols and her larger than life eyelashes. The only really
interesting segment of the film is a direct lift from a SCHOOLGIRL film, with
a lovely young teenage girl actively seeking to lose her virginity, first from
her boyfriend who can't get it up and then from her lecherous next-door neighbor!
With obvious stock footage of African tribal dances, a giant phallus used to break
the hymen of a Greek girl, gory Inquisition torture sequences, Adam and Eve in
the Garden of Eden, smoking herbs engorging a girl's private parts, a Native American
maiden breaking her hymen with a tree branch, man-on-the-street interviews, and
a cheesy defloration "ceremony" in Cambodia (yeah right!). Don't be
fooled, however, as all of these exciting elements don't keep the film consistently
exciting. The disc presents the film in fullframe (which looks accurate, but knowing
Franco the aspect ratio should probably be at least 1.66:1) and in German with
English subtitles. Extra features include the original theatrical trailer, which
contains all the really good parts and none of the draggy moments, and a brief
stills gallery. (Casey
Scott)

*

KNIFE
OF ICE (1972) Director: Umberto Lenzi, Trash Mountain Video (Japan Region
2). Of Umberto Lenzi's accomplished early gialli, KNIFE OF ICE is probably
his least-seen. It was the last collaboration between Lenzi and star Carroll Baker,
who had already starred in three prior films for him (ORGASMO, PARANOIA, SO SWEET...SO
PERVERSE), and is arguably their least effective effort. Thirteen-year-old Martha
witnesses her parents' grisly death in a train wreck and loses her ability to
speak. Years later, she lives in the countryside with her dying uncle. Her close
cousin Jenny (the alluring Evelyn Stewart) comes to visit and is soon brutally
murdered in the garage by an unknown assailant. It seems to be the work of a sex
maniac, but what is Martha's connection to the murderer? With a nasty real-life
bullfight during the opening credits, Eduardo Fajardo as a mysterious red herring
chauffeur, a bloody kitty, a suspicious vagrant with silver eyes, tie-ins to Satan
worship, a lengthy suspenseful sequence in a dark house during a loud thunderstorm,
and a marvelous soundtrack by Marcello Giombini. Why Ms. Baker won't speak of
her Italian films today is a mystery. She gives good performances in all of them
(save perhaps BABA YAGA, where she seems almost somnambulistic) and it's hardly
as if she was slumming by making films abroad. She has no dialogue in this film,
but is still able to do a good job with facial expressions and hand gestures.
Still, her distinctive voice is sorely missed. Umberto Lenzi's widescreen photography
is preserved in its entirety in this 2.35:1 letterboxed transfer. It looks absolutely
sensational, with a few instances of dirt around the frame and a single appearance
of a white line. The mono audio (English only) sounds good, but dialogue is sometimes
a little tough to decipher, sounding under-mixed. The Japanese subtitles are thankfully
removable. Extras include the original theatrical trailer and liner notes in Japanese
only. Is the disc worth the $40 retail price most people are asking? No, I don't
think so. I've also noticed that many Eurocult discs appearing on the Japanese
market tend to be released on Region 1 editions not far down the road; only at
an affordable retail price of $15-25 could I recommend the purchase, and even
then to giallo and Umberto Lenzi completists only. KNIFE OF ICE isn't an awful
film, far from it, it's just not a giallo worth revisiting. Lenzi's earlier films
are far more deserving of restoration on DVD. (Casey
Scott)

*

FRAULEIN
LEATHER (1974) Director: Nick Phillips, Guilty Pleasures/Media Blasters.
Director Nick Phillips is well-known for his fetish-driven adult films, usually
involving leather, shoes, lesbianism, and sex toys. Lost for years, they are finally
starting to resurface on home video thanks to the efforts of RetroSeduction Cinema,
who have preserved a number of Phillips' most noteworthy films. Media Blasters'
Guilty Pleasures cult film line has licensed two Phillips films, FRAULEIN LEATHER
and BRIGITTA. The first to be released, FRAULEIN LEATHER, is a real surprise!
It's a hardcore film, which is even more shocking considering the disc can be
found through many major retail outlets! The storyline is slight: an unhappy housewife
(who might be played by lovely blonde Barbara Mills, making this her only hardcore
footage!) who, while her philandering husband is away on business, has a lengthy
lesbian fantasy fever dream. In the fantasy, she encounters toothy skinflick regular
Lynn Harris (PLEASURES OF A WOMAN, CONVICTS WOMEN) while running on the beach
and apprehensively pursues lesbian sex. Lynn invites over two more lesbian galpals,
decked in leather, and much masturbation, cunnilingus, and dildoplay ensues, all
100% hardcore! Phillips directs all the action within one shady apartment, behind
closed blinds, making the film even more scuzzy than it already is. For some reason,
the film is presented in widescreen, which I am positive is not the correct aspect
ratio. Films of this nature were usually shot on cheap film stock, usually 16mm,
in the Academy ratio (1.33:1), which Phillips did with ROXANNA and PLEAURES OF
A WOMAN, issued on DVD in fullframe from RetroSeduction Cinema. The audio is strictly
jazzy library music and breathy female narration, both of which collide lethally
in some instances. Sometimes you can't hear the vocal because of over-recording
during the dubbing process or because the music is amped too high, but what you
can hear is priceless smutty sex talk. Extras are restricted to trailers for other
Guilty Pleasures discs, including two Ray Dennis Steckler flicks, THE LEMON GROVE
KIDS MEET THE MONSTERS and RAT PFINK A BOO BOO, and REVENGE (which looks like
standards 80s shot-on-video trash). (Casey
Scott)

*

ICH,
EIN GROUPIE (1970) Director:
Erwin C. Dietrich, Pal Region 0. Erwin C. Dietrich, who has been very kind
to his fans by releasing his vast library of cult classics on digitally remastered
DVD's, has seen fit to start an Ingrid Steeger Collection, commemorating the buxom
blonde starlet of a number of his most popular sexploitation films. This, her
first film, has a rocky history, originally starting with director Jack Hill (whose
on-set experiences were so bad he named the villainous warden Dietrich in THE
BIG DOLL HOUSE to get even with the producer!) and producer Roger Corman with
their hands in the pie, but Dietrich soon nixed their contract and went it alone,
lensing the project himself. Steeger plays a naive young English girl who becomes
enthralled with a pretty drab psychedelic rock group playing in a park for wild
dancing hippies. She is soon swept up into their drug culture, smoking pot and
dropping acid with her fellow sex-hungry groupies, following bands like Birth
Control and Murphy Blend (!!), riding naked on hogs with the Hell's Angels, tuning
in, dropping out, and all manner of crazy shenanigans, including taking part in
a satanic ritual!! It's not as enjoyable as the SCHOOLGIRL REPORT series, and
gets really boring during most of the 80 minute running time, but does one thing
few other films of the time did: capture the psychedelic social climate of Germany
in the 60s, where most films have centered on the U.S. and the U.K. For this reason
alone, the film is a historical oddity Eurocult fanatics should track down. Not
to mention Ms. Steeger is one foxy lady! The film is presented letterboxed at
1.85:1, anamorphically enhanced, and colors are a bit faded and bleed from time
to time, but overall this is a fine restoration. The box states the film is in
2.35:1, which is incorrect; there is a good amount of information missing on the
sides (including parts of the credits) that can't be accounted for with TV overscan,
so perhaps the image spreads out nicely on a 16x9 monitor. The film is completely
uncut, with all the eye-popping nudity and rampant drug use intact, and offers
four language options: Deutsch, English, French, and Italian. The English dub
is very poorly done, muffled and done on the cheap by maybe four or five people,
with the German track (obviously) being the preferable choice. Unfortunately,
there are no English subtitles included for the feature, which seems strange when
you can see subtitled scenes from the film in the accompanying featurette. Erwin
Dietrich talks about the making of the film, his experiences working with the
lovely Steeger, and how she (like many exploitation actresses) disowned her low-budget
beginnings when she became a big TV star in Germany. She now refuses to speak
of her exploitation films! Strangely, the subtitles quit working about 3 minutes
before the featurette ends, so only German-speakers will understand Dietrich's
final words on the film and Steeger. No trailer, alas, and a slideshow offers
only a few tantalizing production photos. Future installments in the Ingrid Steeger
Collection will include THE SWINGING STEWARDESSES (1971), THE SEX ADVENTURES OF
THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1971), BLUTJUNGE VERFUHRERINNEN 1 (1972), THE YOUNG SEDUCERS
(1972), BLUTJUNGE VERFUHRERINNEN 3 (1972), and WHITE SLAVERS (1972). (Casey
Scott)

*

MANOS
THE HANDS OF FATE (1966) Director: Hal Warren, Alpha Home Video. An
unhappily married couple and their oblivious young daughter take a detour through
the desert en route to their vacation spot and find themselves lost. They are
forced to spend the night at a dilapidated house occupied by the very weird Torgo,
who is part of a Satanic cult residing in the backyard! Probably the most infamous
obscure bad movie of all time, this Texas regional chiller was all but forgotten
until Comedy Central's "Mystery Science Theater 3000" grabbed hold of
it and lampooned the cheesy Satanic cult story to create one of its best-loved
episodes. Unfortunately, most viewers who blast the film have never seen it in
a complete version, which is why this Alpha disc is a godsend! It appears to be
culled from Sinister Cinema's print, which lops off about 30-40 seconds of the
opening drive, but includes all the footage sliced from the film for it to fit
into the MST3K timeslot. Performances, camerawork, lighting, and editing are awful
at best, but what most viewers might finally be able to appreciate about this
film is its eerie otherworldly quality. I'm not saying it's an undiscovered masterpiece,
but it does succeed in disorienting the viewer, the feel of a regional low-budget
film is reminiscent of the later TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and the shock ending
is very surprising! And I'm probably the only person in the world who would love
a MANOS THE HANDS OF FATE soundtrack album; this jazzy score is hip! The Alpha
disc, other than missing the 30-40 seconds near the beginning, is quite a welcome
surprise release! Until someone steps up to the plate and tries to track down
the original elements (Something Weird Video, we're looking at you!), MANOS will
never look great. Bleeding colors and a brown tint to the whole film actually
does help the dreadful atmosphere, and the muffled dubbed soundtrack (recorded
by only four people!) sounds as bold as it ever will. Even though it's just a
budget DVD, this is one of my favorite discs of 2003! Long live Manos! (Casey
Scott)

*

THE
GHOST (1963) Director: Riccardo Freda, Alpha Home Video. The luscious
Barbara Steele (Bava's BLACK SUNDAY and countless other Italo horrors of the 60s)
is the philandering Margaret Hitchcock, the wife of deteriorating Dr. Hichcock
(relation to the titular HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK is questionable). She has an affair
with Dr. Livingstone, Hichcock's physician who aids her in killing the old man.
But Hichcock won't rest easy, as his ghost returns to haunt his wife and drive
her insane! With a simply beautiful score by Francesco de Masi (a long way from
NEW YORK RIPPER) and Bava favorite Harriet White Medin as the maid. Italian Gothic
horror is a genre that has yet to be given a definitive DVD release (save perhaps
Synapse's CASTLE OF BLOOD), and Alpha's budget release of THE GHOST is no exception.
The film still has the first two reels mixed up and, like many of their discs,
seems to be taken from Sinister Cinema's print. The disc looks at least better
than the Brentwood disc available in various DVD sets, with full colors and bombastic
sound. It's mildly letterboxed in some spots, with a black bar appearing at the
top and bottom of the screen at various moments during the running time, but does
not stay permanent and can't decide between 1.66:1 and a smaller ratio. Until
someone does this classic justice by going back to the original elements, this
is a worthy purchase. But personally, I would gladly upgrade for a remastered
letterboxed uncut version, with the reels in proper place, too! Any takers? (Casey
Scott)

*

THE
NASTY RABBIT (1964) Director: James Landis, Alpha Home Video. In what
is perhaps Arch Hall, Jr.'s worst film (and that's a mighty hard thing to accomplish),
he plays a teen rock star who is also an undercover agent sent to keep an eye
on a Russian spy moonlighting at an isolated dude ranch with an infected rabbit
he is preparing to set loose on the United States. This provides Arch with plenty
of musical number opportunities, but unfortunately he seems to be really hating
the moviemaking experience this time around. He's not as goofily charming as he
was in EEGAH!, nor as flat-out excellent as in THE SADIST, so this is worth owning
for completists only (which I am not). The comedy is weak and the plot so thin
I could care less what happened during the much-too-long 95-minute running time.
Surprise, surprise, the movie is letterboxed!! Doesn't make it a GOOD movie, but
it's kinda surprising given Alpha's fullscreen track record. The color palette
of the film is as good as one of Something Weird's DVD-R's, displaying some possible
restoration but still with plenty of dirt, scratches, and grainy sequences. The
highlight of the movie is Liz Renay as the provocative Cecilia Solomon, but even
she can't make the movie worth purchasing. Skip it, even for $5. (Casey
Scott)

*

ONE
FRIGHTENED NIGHT (1936) Director: Christy Cabanne, Alpha Home Video.
Grouchy Jasper Whyte (Charles Grapewin from THE WIZARD OF OZ) assembles his living
heirs and acquaintances for the reading of his will during one loud stormy night
at his sprawling mansion. Arriving just in time is his long-lost granddaughter...and
soon after, another woman claiming to be his granddaughter barges in! Before it
can be determined who is the real relative, one of them is murdered and so begins
a series of murders, with plenty of red herrings, prime suspects, and a storm
that simply will not end! One of the very best of the Poverty Row "Forgotten
Horrors," this Alpha budget disc is unfortunately a sorry affair. The print
used (which I assume is from Sinister Cinema) is very, very dark, which may be
due to the shooting conditions, but I'm unsure. The sound is scratchy, but adequate
for such a low-budget affair, but it would be nice to see what's going on most
of the time. It's still a very enjoyable murder mystery, with great comic relief,
atmosphere aplenty, and enough twists and turns to keep the audience guessing.
Highly recommended film, but a wary purchase recommendation. (Casey
Scott)

*

WARNING
FROM SPACE (1956) Director: Koji Shima, Alpha Home Video. In Japan's
first color sci-fi film, a race of starfish aliens from another planet land on
Earth to warn mankind of the dangers of nuclear testing, and how it will effect
their planet in the long run. If that sounds familiar to you, keep in mind the
same story was told in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL in 1951...but these aliens
are a tad cooler-looking than Gort! This AIP-TV print has ugly title cards, but
the film itself looks passable. Colors are fuzzy and faded, and it should be in
widescreen, which is evidenced by obvious panning-and-scanning during some pivotal
sequences, but I don't think Daiei will be leasing this film out to anyone soon
(I'd love to be proven wrong). The starfish aliens are very effective, even when
they're obviously men in suits, and a look at 1950s Japan is always fascinating.
Recommended purchase...but imagine how nice this would look remastered!!(Casey Scott)

*

SANTO
IN THE DIABOLICAL AXE (1964) Director: José Díaz Morales.
Rise Above Entertainment. Another early black and white Santo (el Enmascarado
de Plata) outing, this Mexican-made cheapie also explores the origins of our hero.
Opening up in 1603, some monks place the body of an ancestor of El Santo (wearing
the same modern 60s costume and mask) to rest, and a at the same time, a black-hooded
man swears vengeance. Centuries later, Santo is menaced by the black-hooded menace
with an axe, and is attacked in the ring (even his opponent helps him against
this brute) and while he is sleeping. Santo sleeps with his mask and cape on,
which I guess is the Mexican equivalent of our Ed Norton ("The Honeymooners")
sleeping with his hat on. See Santo visit centuries past by sticking a beanie
on his head that's attached to a time machine. See Santo take off his mask to
kiss his blonde girlfriend (no, we only see the back of his dark-haired head).
The film also stars the beautiful Lorena Velázquez, and proves that most
Mexican baddies turn into bats, even if they are not vampires. The director also
did SANTO IN THE WITCHES ATTACK, which is very similar in its surreal narrative.
The disc features a decent black and white full frame transfer with some occasional
print damage, and is in Spanish with optional English subtitles. Includes other
Santo trailers, a still gallery, the now familiar "best of" Santo clip,
and liner notes by David Wilt. (George R. Reis)

*

REVENGE
OF THE NINJA (1983) Director: Sam Firstenberg. MGM. When Rhino released
the Sho Kosugi "classic" 9 DEATHS OF THE NINJA on DVD a couple of years
ago, I was left wondering "Where is REVENGE OF THE NINJA, and who has the
DVD rights?" Slowly but surely, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
A year or so ago, MGM released a line of action titles to DVD: one of which, was
AMERICAN NINJA. I knew that if they owned and were releasing the film, that it
would only be a matter of time before they unleashed Sho Kosugi's greatest accomplishment,
as well as the essential 1980's ninja movie, REVENGE OF THE NINJA. I was right.
The story of Cho and his son moving to America to open an oriental doll business,
all the while being used by a mafia-killing ninja drug-dealer smuggling heroin
through the dolls will finally be passed on to the DVD generation. All I can say
is, God bless you, MGM! Many companies would've sat on a low-key 80's title like
this, possibly never releasing it, but MGM chose to release it, much to the rejoicing
of all us who grew up admiring Sho Kosugi. To a minor degree, Sho Kosugi was to
children of the 80's what Bruce Lee was to children of the 70's. Can ninjas really
scale buildings and disappear into clouds of smoke? I don't know, but REVENGE
OF THE NINJA makes you believe anything is possible when dealing with the deadly
assassins known as ninjas. I love the film, but am not afraid to list its flaws
(most of all, it's quite cheesy). But, if you like seeing ninjas fighting, being
stealthy, and using a lot of really unique/cool weaponry, look no further than
this film. Sho Kosugi's fight choreography is second-to-none, and the weapons
in this film (to use a term favored by a popular ninja website) are "totally
sweet." On the disc, MGM has given us fans two great treats and one disappointment.
First of all, we get to see the original theatrical trailer. Secondly, MGM has
gone out of their way to provide fans with the original uncut version of the film,
despite the R rating on the box. If your only exposure to REVENGE OF THE NINJA
has been through late-night cable and VHS, then you truly have not seen REVENGE
OF THE NINJA. Most of the blood was added to the ending although it appeared to
me that bloody bits and pieces were added here and there throughout the film as
well. Now, for the disappointment: The disc is full screen only. I've only seen
it in full screen over the years, and in some ways, I think I prefer that. Don't
get me wrong, I would've loved a widescreen print, however, I somewhat prefer
seeing it as I did when I was a kid. When I didn't know what things such as "anamorphic"
and "widescreen" meant back when I thought ninjas could scale buildings
and disappear into thin air by using smoke bombs. While I definitely would've
welcomed more extras (a Sho Kosugi commentary maybe?) and a widescreen print,
there is absolutely nothing wrong with MGM's current disc of REVENGE OF THE NINJA.
The sound is much crisper than it has been in the past and the video, for the
most part, looks beautiful. I highly recommend it to any and all ninja, martial
arts, and Sho Kosugi fans out there. A very fun flick and a nice disc. Now, MGM,
bring us ENTER THE NINJA and NINJA III: THE DOMINATION! (Wes
Ray)

*

X-312
FLIGHT TO HELL (1971) Director: Jess Franco. Image Entertainment.
One of hard-working Jess Franco's more obscure 70s outings, X-312 FLIGHT TO HELL
was originally to star Soledad Miranda before her untimely death, and it feels
like the work of a melancholy director trying to make sense of the shattered pieces
of his life. This was also Franco's last film before he recruited new additions
to the regular cast of Franco freaks (Anne Libert, Britt Nichols, and Alice Arno
included) and began directing off-the-wall sex-n-violence pictures for Comptoir.
Looking at what came directly before and after this film, it can't help but be
a disappointment. A gaggle of stock characters (the young couple, a rich drunk
American woman, a mysterious dark-haired woman whom Soledad Miranda was to play,
a reporter, a shifty steward) populate a plane leaving the political tension of
Chile, which crashes into the Brazilian jungle; one of the passengers is a corrupt
politician who is smuggling diamonds out of the country he left in turmoil. Tension
mounts as various characters swipe at the diamonds; the group runs into a band
of headhunting Indios, a pack of revolutionaries seeking the diamonds led by Howard
Vernon in mucho tan makeup, and a surprise ending spares a happy finish for no
one. Uh...FLIGHT TO HELL is an OK outing. It's not as sublime as Franco's Soledad
Miranda films (one wonders if she could have elevated this flick as she did DEVIL
CAME FROM AKASAVA) nor as maniacal as his Comptoir films (THE DEMONS, EROTIC RITES
OF FRANKENSTEIN, DAUGHTER OF DRACULA, DRACULA PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN, SINNER,
PERVERSE COUNTESS), and it doesn't rest snugly between them, either. There's some
good action, the script is not badly written, and the jungle location is well-done.
But the few Franco regulars (Ewa Stroemberg, Howard Vernon, Paul Muller) aren't
on-screen long enough to make even their biggest fans interested, and those aching
for the standard Franco sex will be bored silly by an unenthusiastic lesbian scene
(sometimes cut from other video versions) and the violence quotient is also very
low. Still, Francophiles and completists should own this on their DVD shelf. The
transfer is only slightly letterboxed at 1.66:1 (it looked a smaller ratio to
me, much like Anchor Bay's MARK OF THE DEVIL) and features video noise and grain
in most of the darker scenes. It's an acceptable transfer for a less-than-great
film. Even though an English language version exists, this disc is in German with
English subtitles. No other extras are included. Boo! (Casey
Scott)

*

HANDS
OF BLOOD (1974) Director: Perry Tong. Image Entertainment. Shot in
Texas for $17,000 (and trust me, it looks it), HANDS OF BLOOD was originally released
to Southern drive-ins as STEPSISTERS, and retitled THE TEXAS HILL KILLINGS when
Sam Sherman acquired it in the 80s. Cheating charter pilot Thorpe Russell (Hal
Fletcher) hypocritically chastises his wife Norma (soap star Bond Gideon) for
the men that she sneaks into the house while he's away. Diana (Sharyn Talbert),
Norma's stepsister comes to visit, and at first resenting Thorpe, she then has
an affair with him. The first guy she dates when she gets to town gets axed in
the head! Basically a double-crossing murder scenario with a twist ending and
a lot of honky tonk music (the story is even summed up in song at the end). Running
only 71 minutes (could there be a longer version?), this ultra cheap, crudely
edited picture was shot on 16mm reversal and later blown up to 35mm, so don't
expect a exquisite DVD transfer here. This will most likely appeal to those who
admire the work of S.F. Brownrigg, but his films look big-budget Hollywood gloss
in comparison. The disc does include a new video interview with producer/director/writer
Perry Tong who calls the film a "D picture" and talks about the cast,
locations, and other interesting tidbits. Released as part of Image's "Cult
Cinema Collection," this DVD also features trailers for other Image releases,
as well as the "House of Terror" Live Horror Show Promo. There's a booklet
with strong liner notes by Jim Arena that includes quotes from Perry Tong and
Sam Sherman.(George
R. Reis)

*

SANTO
IN THE WITCHES ATTACK (1964). Director: José Díaz Morales.
Rise Above Entertainment. This is a very odd, early black and white Santo
flick that opens with an unusually long pre-credit sequence. A young girl has
a strange dream featuring stuffed animals, lizards, sexy witches and their brawny
henchmen, and a masked superman who is able to ward off evil by raising his arms
in the sign of
the cross. The masked man turns out to be Santo (who has a high-rise apartment/office!),
and she asks for his help when her boyfriend is abducted by a coven. The head
witch is played by raven-haired Lorena Velázquez (DOCTOR OF DOOM, SAMSON
VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMEN), and she has never looked more beautiful. Santo reluctantly
turns down the advances of a demon-in-disguise bikini babe, is almost bitten by
a huge spider, and gets beaten up a lot. The sole wrestling match was borrowed
from an earlier Santo film. This dreamlike, atmospheric Santo effort is very different
from the conventional Rene Cardona entries, and if you think it reminds you of
HORROR HOTEL (aka CITY OF THE DEAD), watch out for a clip borrowed from that very
film! SANTO IN THE WITCHES ATTACK is actually played out in three acts (with title
cards), and the reason for this is explained in David Wilt's liner notes, as well
as some interesting facts on producer Luis Enrique Vergara. In Spanish, with optional
English subtitles. The black and white full frame transfer here is serviceable,
and the disc includes trailers, a still gallery and a "best of" Santo
clip. (George
R. Reis)

*

SANTO
IN THE VENGEANCE OF THE CRYING WOMAN (1974). Director: Miguel M. Delgado.
Rise Above Entertainment. Another of numerous 70s Santo (the Mexican masked
superstar wrestler/actor) adventures, this one concerns the "crying woman,"
sort of a legend south of the border. Santo helps a professor and his pretty nieces
find a medallion from a mummified woman in a cave that will help them find a treasure
(Santo does this only because the money will go to help children!). The horrifying
"crying woman" comes back to terrorize after 300 years, and in human
form, poses as a friendly neighbor, luring small children with toys. The make-up
is pretty good (for a Santo film), and Santo has a sidekick in the form of a real-life
Cuban boxer José "Mantequilla" Nápoles (his name is actually
in the original title), who looks silly without trying to be. Santo's son plays
an admirer who watches his bouts on TV, and his sister is played by a little girl
who is given a ridiculous grown woman's voice! Santo and his boxing pal never
meet the "crying woman," but they fight some brutes lead by a gangster
played by director René Cardona Sr.! Both Santo and Nápoles model
some very loud 70s threads. Rise Above Entertainment keeps belting these out,
and this title has a decent full frame color transfer with English subtitles,
trailers, a "best of" Santo clip, a still gallery, and fine liner notes
by David Wilt. (George
R. Reis)

*

SOUND
OF HORROR (1964) Director: José Antonio Nieves Conde. Alpha Video.
In Greece, some WWII vets are in search of a treasure hidden in a cave for years.
Using explosions in their operation, they un-hatch a prehistoric egg and unleash
a dinosaur. The creature happens to be invisible but makes some extremely piercing
shrieks. From what you can presume here, the film is short on effects, but does
have a drawing premise and some memorable scares. You never see the monster (well,
at the end you sort of see it and it kind of looks like the outline of "Barney"),
but there's some pretty graphic killings and other unusual scenes. A Spanish production,
the film is notable for the first screen appearance of Ingrid Pitt, years before
her Hammer glamour tenure, and an early turn by the late Soldedad Miranda prior
to her association with director Jess Franco. Both actresses do sexy dances and
are naturally admired by the male characters. SOUND OF HORROR was released in
the U.S. by Europix (on a double-bill with Mario Bava's KILL, BABY... KILL!),
was a late-night TV favorite in the 70s, and then pretty much vanished. Alpha's
disc of this black and white effort is a bit soft and dark, but is very much watchable
and it includes an original trailer. Don't expect a stunning transfer, but easily
recommendable, especially because of the low retail cost and the cult status of
the two leading ladies. (George
R. Reis)

*

RING
OF TERROR (1962) Director: Clark L. Paylow. Alpha Video. One
of the worst horror films of the 60s, RING OF TERROR has a one-dimensional plot
twist, and while you're sitting there forever waiting for something to happen,
nothing ever does. The story has a group of hairline-receding med students and
their sorted fraternity hazing while pledging new members. George E. Mather (who
was in his early 40s when this was shot!) is a student who shows his lack of fear
by killing a snake while parked with his babe, or bringing in a cadaver for an
autopsy demonstration. In the end, his fear catches up with him (look at the DVD
cover). There's a silly mortician narrator who accidentally steps on his cat's
tail while introducing this nonsense, and he sounds a bit like Criswell from the
Ed Wood films. There's a fat student (he kind of resembles Lumpy from "Leave
It To Beaver") and his big-boned gal who are both obsessed with food, namely
ice cream and hot dogs. It only runs 66 minutes, but feels longer. Director Paylow
was an assistant director on some of the AIP "beach" movies and went
on to produce SAVANNAH SMILES several years before his death. Alpha's full frame
DVD of this black & white no-budget schlock looks pretty good, culled from
a nice print source, and a trailer is included. (George
R. Reis)

*

THE
GLORY STOMPERS (1967) Director: Anthony M. Lanza. King Records,
Region 2, NTSC, Japan. This is one of the earliest films where Dennis Hopper
started playing drugged out, longhaired space cadets who said "man"
in just about every sentence. He's actually the leader of the biker gang, The
Black Souls, while nice guy Jody McCrea (just finishing a string of AIP beach
films) is the leader of the rival Stompers. He is beaten and left for dead by
the Souls who then abduct his blonde old lady (Chris Noel). Actually, McCrea was
merely knocked out and now he's out to find his woman and get revenge. Meanwhile,
Hopper and his mates plan to sell Noel to a wealthy Mexican across the border!
They keep her tied up, use her as a plaything, and do some balling, boozing,
and babbling about a better life. McCrea wastes no time tracking The Souls down,
enlisting the help of an over the hill rider, played by Jock Mahoney (THE LAND
UNKNOWN). Originally released by AIP, THE GLORY STOMPERS is shoddy and amateurish
looking (the production was filmed entirely outdoors), but it has the advantage
of fast paced, rousing action with an added dose of blood. Hopper's persona is
a sort of a preparation for his EASY RIDER character (in terms of appearance and
speech). The cast also includes Casey Kasem ("keep your feet on ground and
keep watching the stars") as a freaky, bearded clown called Mouth (perhaps
this was the original inspiration for Scooby Doo's pal, Shaggy?); Bing Crosby's
son Lindsay; and Robert Tessier (onetime "Mr. Clean" and an actor who
usually plays the bald guy in biker films) as a strangely-haired, one-eyed vagabond
named Magoo! Lanza later directed THE INCREDIBLE TWO-HEADED TRANSPLANT also for
AlP. The good news is that this Japanese import is beautifully remastered in the
original 2.35:1 widescreen ratio (for the first time on home video) with anamorphic
enhancement. The mono audio (with removable Japanese subtitles) has a few muffled
parts, but is also given a noticeable boost. King Records' transfer includes new
Orion and MGM logos, so this title is screaming for a "Midnite Movies"
release in the U.S. Extras include a still gallery (from the U.S. pressbook),
a bio on Hopper (all in Japanese), and the original trailer. A nice insert booklet
is included, but hence, all in Japanese. (George R. Reis)

*

HELL'S
ANGELS '69 (1969) Director: Lee Madden. King Records, Region 2, NTSC, Japan.
This AIP release blends the usual biker film exploits with a plot that involves
a Vegas casino heist. Jeremy Slate (HELL'S BELLES) and Tom Stern (ANGELS FROM
HELL) play two wealthy, danger-loving half brothers who pose as bikers who call
themselves "Salem Witches." They mingle with a bunch of California Hell's
Angels who hesitantly allow them to temporarily tag along. These Angels (Sonny
Barger and a few real Angels have significant acting parts) are tougher and scarier
than usual. The two outsiders check into Caesar's Palace and coerce the Angels
into causing a minor riot outside the hotel doors. It's all part of a scheme they've
devised to nab $600,000 from the casino while disguised as clean cut businessmen.
They are able to flee with the loot, but an Angels' female member (Connie Van
Dyke) has discovered Slate and Stern's felonious feat, and they are now forced
to take her along with them. Tension brews as the Angels catch wind of the scheme
through the police. This fresh approach to the genre benefits from a good screenplay
by Slate and Stern (who actually look like they could be brothers) and the picturesque
Nevada backdrop. This Japanese import presents the film in a decent full screen
(open matte of what should be 1.85:1) transfer with a superior mono audio track
(the Japanese subtitles are removable). It also includes an original trailer,
a bio on Sonny Barger (in Japanese), scenes from other biker films available on
DVD through King Records in Japan, and an insert booklet in Japanese. Anyone interested
in ordering THE GLORY STOMPERS or HELL'S ANGELS '69 can check out CD
Japan's Web site. (George R. Reis)

*

THE
THREE STOOGES: THE THREE STOOGES IN HISTORY(1935-1948). Columbia
TriStar. Over the past couple of years, Columbia TriStar has thankfully been
releasing Three Stooges short films (as a well as full-length features) on DVD.
This latest installment features the slapstick masters in various historical scenarios:
RESTLESS KNIGHTS is an early Curly classic from 1935. In Medieval times, the stooges
discovery that they are of royal blood, are appointed as a queen's royal guards,
are sentenced to death and escape, and attempt to rescue her after she is abducted.
Also with Curly, 1942's MATRI-PHONY has the boys as store-owning potters in ancient
Rome who get mixed up in a nearly blind emperor's (Vernon Dent) penchant for redheads,
prompting Curly to go drag. The other three shorts all feature Shemp and
are all from 1948: SQUAREHEADS OF THE ROUND TABLE has the Stooges as royal troubadours
in Elizabethan times who team with Cedric the Blacksmith (famed stuntman Jock
Mahoney) to win back the beautiful Princess Elaine (Christine McIntyre) who is
being forced to wed the hateful Black Prince (Philip Van Zandt). FIDDLERS THREE
has Moeth, Larryeth and Shempeth as royal fiddlers who get trapped unexpectedly
in an evil magician's trick box, getting poked with huge swords in one of their
best routines. My personal favorite in this collection, I'M A MONKEY'S UNCLE has
Moe, Larry and Shemp as cavemen who are faced with everyday routine choirs, and
later fight three other brutes to win over their sweethearts Aggie, Maggie and
Baggie. This short--with its stone age props, sight gags and dialog--makes you
think that the Stooges influenced Mel Brooks and The Flintstones, and scenes from
it later were incorporated in their 1955 short, STONE AGE ROMEOS. Quality is excellent
on all the full frame shorts represented here, and there's a Spanish language
option ("Los Tres Chiflados") with optional English, French and Spanish
subtitles. My only complaint is that there are only five shorts rather than the
usual six or seven that Columbia has issued on previous Stooges DVDs. Otherwise,
this is a nicely-paired up collection, and there's more Shemp's than Curly's.
As much as I love Curly, Shemp is the man! Keep the Three Stooges DVDs coming
Columbia! (George R. Reis)

*

THE
STEEL FISTED DRAGON (1982) Director: Iksan Lahardi. Company: VCI. Yet
another Hong Kong chop-socky import, this features an actor who calls himself
"Steve Lee" ("The Greatest Kung-Fu Fighter Since BRUCE LEE"
screams the poster). It immediately opens with Lee's mother being murdered while
her house burns to the ground, and our Kung-Fu expert spends the rest of the running
time perusing her killer, leading to a climatic showdown with an actor called
Johnny Hong Kong (I'm not making this up!). Not much else plotwise in these 78
minutes, but there are lots of elongated fight sequences, cartoon violence (Lee
literally pokes someone's eyeballs out!), a rape scene, a dim-witted sidekick,
and theme music that resembles the first few chords of The Talking Heads' "Psycho
Killer." This was distributed in the U.S. by Cobra Media, the company that
Herman Cohen formed after he stopped producing his own films. Although it's given
a 1982 date (the year it played here), the shaggy hairdos dictate that this was
lensed sometime in the happy face decade. The negative source materials displays
some muted colors, but VCI's 2.35:1 widescreen 16x9 transfer is very clean and
acceptable, and the Australian-accented dubbing (where everyone shouts "bastard"
to each other) makes for a serviceable audio track. Extras include two trailers
for the film (depicting some semi-nude female wrestling not in the feature), letterboxed
Hong Kong trailers for three Bruce Lee films, as well as one for Brandon Lee's
first theatrical effort, LEGACY OF RAGE. (George R. Reis)